An engineer, a mathematician, and a physicist (another stolen Brutuskend JOKE)

[Mathlete]

Since I am a mathematician I would have to say measure something and its shadow then measure the shadow of the pole and use some simple proportions.

If it is cloudy do the trig thing

Or you could climb the pole, jump off, and time how long it would take you to hit the ground. Then its just a matter of factoring.

 

[johnjohn320]

Originally posted by: maddogchen

Originally posted by: JDub02
us nerds would measure off a distance and take an angle measurement from the ground to the top of the flagpole and use geometry or trig to figure out the height.

which is what I woulda thought the Mathematician would have done.

Hell, that's what I thought a high school freshmen would have done.

 

[jjones]

:beer:

 

[Juno]

Nice joke but where's Deaf Marriage joke? Loved that joke since you posted. :laugh:

 

[Mik3y]

haha. :beer:'s for brutuskend! :laugh:

 

[soogiebro]

Originally posted by: conjur
:thumbsup: silverpig!

yup.

 

[BEL6772]

Another joke:
A mathematician, a biologist, and a physicist all went to lunch together. Just after they had placed their orders, they noticed that two people entered a building across the street from the diner they were at. As they were settling the check, they saw three people come out of the building. The biologist exclaimed, "They must have reproduced!" The physicist argued that there was insufficient data and that the experiment would have to be repeated before conclusions could be drawn. Then the mathematician said, "I don't know what you two are so excited about. It is really quite simple. Once exactly one person enters the building, it will be empty again."

 

[bharok]

Originally posted by: JDub02
us nerds would measure off a distance and take an angle measurement from the ground to the top of the flagpole and use geometry or trig to figure out the height.

that is exactly what i was thinking while reading the joke

 

[bharok]

Originally posted by: silverpig
A Physics Legend
The Legend

Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal Academy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, related the following story.

Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.

I read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."

The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.

I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he hadn't written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on.

In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x=0.5*a*t^2, calculate the height of the building." At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.

While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.

"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer.

For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."

"Fine," I said, "and others?"

"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units." "A very direct method."

"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g [gravity] at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."

"On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."

At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.

The name of the student was Niels Bohr." (1885-1962) Danish Physicist; Nobel Prize 1922; best known for proposing the first 'model' of the atom with protons & neutrons, and various energy state of the surrounding electrons -- the familiar icon of the small nucleus circled by three elliptical orbits ... but more significantly, an innovator in Quantum Theory.

^ ^^^
never supected that ending
good story ....

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I remembered reading this somewhere

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."

but I didn't remember where it was from. Nice story

 

[element]

A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job.

The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks "What do two plus two equal?" The mathematician replies "Four." The interviewer asks "Four, exactly?" The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says "Yes, four, exactly."

Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The accountant says "On average, four - give or take ten percent, but on average, four."

Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says "What do you want it to equal?"

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: silverpig
A Physics Legend
The Legend

Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal Academy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, related the following story.

Some time ago...

Excellent story! :thumbsup:

The jokes in this thread aren't bad, either. :laugh:

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: silverpig
"Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."

:laugh:

 

[LordSnailz]

Sorry ... I'm stupid, so what's the conventional way of solving the problem with the barometer?

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
An engineer, a mathematician, and a physicist are told to measure the height of the flagpole on campus.

They bring a measuring tape, go to the flag pole, and start pondering how they will measure the height of this. It's tall and they can't get up there. They think of different solutions and methods, but they just can't agree on a method.

Finally, an English professor drops by, and asks them why they look so puzzled. They tell him of their problem of measuring the height of the flagpole.
The English professor thinks for a second, asks them to hand him the measuring tape, pulls the pole out of the ground, puts it down, and measures it.

When he's done, he returns the tape and gives them the measurement, puts the pole back in and heads off.

The engineer is shaking his head, the mathematician stares into the ground, and finally the physicist says:
"Stupid linguist. We needed the height, and gives us the f*cking length"

A Physicist, a Biologist, and a Mathamatician were eating lunch one day observing a house across the street they knew to be empty.

Two people enter the house, and, after a time three people leave. Puzzled, the physicist says: "Our initial measurements must have been wrong, either the house was not empty or three people entered it."

The Bioloist responds with: "No, no, clearly the two that entered reproduced while inside."

The Mathamatician says: "Ha! If one of them goes back in the house will be empty again!"

HAHAHAhahahhahah . . . . . ha.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Sorry ... I'm stupid, so what's the conventional way of solving the problem with the barometer?

illiterate too? Read the thread... it was already posted.

 

[bluewall21]

Originally posted by: element
A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job.

The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks "What do two plus two equal?" The mathematician replies "Four." The interviewer asks "Four, exactly?" The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says "Yes, four, exactly."

Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The accountant says "On average, four - give or take ten percent, but on average, four."

Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says "What do you want it to equal?"

Nice. :thumbsup:

 

[LordSnailz]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Sorry ... I'm stupid, so what's the conventional way of solving the problem with the barometer?

illiterate too? Read the thread... it was already posted.

ouch! .. I skipped to the last page and read the story off a quote, mah bad ...